[MBTI General] pseudo intellectuals

[foolish heart]

Honest question--am I the only one who sees a lot of them posting on MBTIc?

In my opinion a pseudo-intellectual is someone who attempts to wield arguments beyond the capabilities of their logical facilities. They are the 15-year-old who insists on driving a manual sports car... can't blame them for wanting to try, but I feel it is appropriate to point out that there are negative consequences of misrepresentation.


Discuss... and try to keep it polite, you or I could easily fall into this categorization.

 

[VagrantFarce]

Maybe you're just projecting your worst qualities onto other people as a way of not having to better yourself.

Check-mate.

 

[Oaky]

^ No actually that's just check. Because it's a maybe.

 

[Athenian200]

No, I see a lot of them as well.

But then again, there are probably many who would believe myself to be one as well.

I don't think people consciously believe they're psuedo-intellectuals and go around trying to appear intelligent with a knowingly flawed argument. I think most of them believe that what they've discovered is the truth, and part of it likely is, but fail to realize the faults in their own critical faculties.

I think that's one of the premises of MBTI... that all the types have a "block" in certain areas of perception. That there are contexts in which certain understandings are correct/applicable, but that they have assumed to be universal what was actually local.

I'd like to offer a quote from the Bible. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." I'm not saying that one can never see the flaws in another person's argument, but that one should consider that quote before accusing someone else of deception or incorrect thinking. I'm not really a Christian, but I do find a lot of wisdom in religious texts nonetheless.

 

[ygolo]

I am most definitely a pseudo-intellectual.

I think most people are.

How often do you hear people talk about their opinions of human nature, the economy, political issues, scientific issues, philosophy, etc.? How often are the people speaking about these things experts about what they are talking about?

If we didn't have people who were pseudo-intellectuals, some of us (at least one of us, namely me) would be bored out of our skulls.

I really cannot converse too long on what happened recently to someone, or who said what about who...just doesn't hold my attention. I listen, because I like hearing people talk, but there is a limit.

There certainly are other types of conversation...but even a thread like this invites pseudo-intellectualism. Who here is an expert on intellectualism, or an expert on who ought to or ought not participate in intellectual discussions? Who is qualified to accurately asses what is beyond the logical faculties of a particular individual?

 

[Helios]

Honest question--am I the only one who sees a lot of them posting on MBTIc?

No, you are not. One makes many threads on the philosophy forum.

 

[foolish heart]

Maybe you're just projecting your worst qualities onto other people as a way of not having to better yourself.

Check-mate.

...and maybe you're giving me some sub-par psychoanalysis because you misinterpreted this a petty attempt to put someone down rather than discussing it impersonally. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop? The world may never know. What I do know is that you are capable of writing a response with actual content, so that is what I expect.

Knight to C-3.

How often do you hear people talk about their opinions of human nature, the economy, political issues, scientific issues, philosophy, etc.? How often are the people speaking about these things experts about what they are talking about?

Ah, a good point. Perhaps it is not a matter of intelligence, but knowledge. The offenders, then, are those who merely pretend to have the qualifying education and experience to make positive conclusions on the topic?

It is hard for me to say, seeing as I too do not know much about these topics, but through deductive reasoning even I can see flaws. I wonder if people who were more susceptible to deception might take it as reliable, then the perpetuation of accurate information suffers.

 

[VagrantFarce]

...and maybe you're giving me some sub-par psychoanalysis because you misinterpreted this a petty attempt to put someone down rather than discussing it impersonally. How many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie pop? The world may never know. What I do know is that you are capable of writing a response with actual content, so that is what I expect.

Knight to C-3.

 

[Ginkgo]

I believe that when you use the term "pseudo-intellectual", you are just watering down the term "idiot". I can't blame you for using lighter vocabulary though.

Yes, I see them. I probably am one.

This thread is probably going to result in an "NT bashes everyone else" conversation. You're seeking identification through intelligence.

 

[Risen]

I think every human being is a pseudo-intellectual. People cannot know everything, so they only speak from varying levels of understanding that lies on a continuum. There is no perfect level of knowledge on any subject, there is always more to know and more connections to be made. The real question here is who speaks from a position where they do have a firm grasp of what they are talking about, and who speaks from a position of not knowing nearly as much as they think they do? Who is correct in their conclusions, and who is incorrect (independent of the first question because you can come to the right conclusions based on faulty understanding)?

I don't care if you call yourself an intellectual or a vagabond, what matters is that you have the intelligence to gather and wield information correctly.

 

[Soar337]

I'm one only because I post on here at night and are too tired to think properly, yet still make a fool of myself by posting on here and sounding like a stupid idiot by talking about things that I don't properly understand. By using too many words in my sentences so that I sound like I know what I am talking about very much.

 

[Night]

In my opinion a pseudo-intellectual is someone who attempts to wield arguments beyond the capabilities of their logical facilities. They are the 15-year-old who insists on driving a manual sports car... can't blame them for wanting to try, but I feel it is appropriate to point out that there are negative consequences of misrepresentation.

They're everywhere.

Go to a college campus and sit in on a student-run political theory discussion. Or, if that's not your dish, listen in on an undergrad Film Theory roundtable.

Go to an Art Exhibition.

Attend a wine-tasting event.

---
In your mind, what constitues pseudo-intellectualism here on TypoC?

 

[prplchknz]

nah their's a ton. I'm neither an intellectual nor a pseudo one, but I think this site does have a fairly high concentration of them.

and pseudo intellectual is somewhat different then an idiot.and idiot is someone who is a moron but isn't nesserily trying to look intellectually superior. while a pseudo intellectual can be called an idiot, they often don't realize that's what they actually are. an idiot can realize he's an idiot and still be an idiot while as soon as a pseudo intellectual realized he's an idiot can no longer disilluision himself into thinking he knows more then every one else on a subject(s). Shit maybe I am a pseudo intellectual. that probably doesn't make sense.

 

[foolish heart]

This thread is probably going to result in an "NT bashes everyone else" conversation. You're seeking identification through intelligence.

Admittedly I am new to MBTI so I am not quite so aware of inter-type "sensitivities" and such.

It isn't a matter of identification (or maybe that is their underlying problem?) but classification. It is to everyone's benefit that we call a dog a dog and a cat a cat. However, some dogs want to be cats so they meow like one.

 

[simulatedworld]

They're everywhere.

Go to a college campus and sit in on a student-run political theory discussion. Or, if that's not your dish, listen in on an undergrad Film Theory roundtable.

Go to an Art Exhibition.

Attend a wine-tasting event.

---
If your mind, what constitues pseudo-intellectualism here on TypoC?

lol +1

They told me if I went to college I would meet smart people and be happier. At college, though, I mostly just met the same people from high school that I hoped I'd never see again after graduation. Whoops.

 

[DiscoBiscuit]

This is why I like law school. (well one of the reasons)

 

[Ginkgo]

Admittedly I am new to MBTI so I am not quite so aware of inter-type "sensitivities" and such.

It isn't a matter of identification (or maybe that is their underlying problem?) but classification. It is to everyone's benefit that we call a dog a dog and a cat a cat. However, some dogs want to be cats so they meow like one.

Fair enough.

I don't know what I'm arguing, really.

I think an appropriate question to ask would be: "How does one determine intelligence objectively?" You need a tool to assess who's a cat and who's a dog before drawing any conclusions. One's own judgment of intelligence probably isn't accurate.

 

[ygolo]

However, some dogs want to be cats so they meow like one.

I'd love to hear a dog meow (while I see the actual dog in person, and can make sure the meow is coming from its natural vocal mechanism).

 

[Soar337]

I'd love to hear a dog meow (while I see the actual dog in person, and can make sure the meow is coming from its natural vocal mechanism).

No youtube videos then

 

[Ginkgo]

lol +1

They told me if I went to college I would meet smart people and be happier. At college, though, I mostly just met the same people from high school that I hoped I'd never see again after graduation. Whoops.

Meh, all the world's a stage. Progressions in life are just different acts of the same play.